Before One Punch
by marakami
Summary: All of Japan hails Izuku Midoriya as the Number One hero and Symbol of Peace and Justice, and along him comes a new generation of potential heroes. Of which one of them is the Quirkless Saitama.
1. 1

Unconscious bodies and grimacing ones were strewn at the sides of the crack-littered hallway. A crowd of bullies cowered and hid behind their leader as they faced off against him.

Saitama stood his ground firmly, face slick with sweat, his blue sweater-tracksuit torn and sliced in several places, caked with dust of the scuffle. Saitama took on his fighting stance, fiery eyes reading and anticipating his opponents' next moves, fists ready to counteract the next strike towards him.

"Come on Saitama. Join us. We need your strength in the next turf wars."

Maybe taking the full brunt of the slicing whirlwind blast attack wasn't a good idea to start with. But there was always someone who needed help in this superhuman society. The Quirkless and less powerful that exist with him.

"Don't worry. I will hold them off. Run."

There were short dustings and sniffling sounds, and then footsteps as the main victim ran away, her dusted over skirt flailing.

"Ignoring me eh? How about you ignore the fact that you're Quirkless?"

The alpha took a hand out of his pocket, already crackling with winds and thunder, energy swirling around his arm. The others behind him followed suit, and activated their own Quirks, inspired by their leader to fight further after their sound defeat against Saitama earlier. Alone, they could not take on Saitama effectively. But together, they could beat him soundly.

In a school at this hour, there was of course little witnesses.

"Ever since you poked your head into our hierarchy, our business, you've been nothing but TROUBLE!"

Rings of shimmering clouds solidified around his arm, before a palm was raised towards Saitama. Twisting cyclones of stormy grey shot out, sparking with arcing electricity. Saitama clenched his fist, and let loose a full straight punch into the cyclone.

The cyclone beam dissipated, its streams torn apart and deflected to nothing by one punch. The leader scowled, his cool already lost, and already charging up an even stronger blast. After all, how can a Quirkless boy stand up to his Quirk?

"LAST CHANCE SAITAMA! RESTRAIN HIM!"

Following this, several members stepped out from their small band, faces clearly fighting the fear from taking on Saitama, already knowing what he was capable of. If a high-tier can't beat him down easily, that what can?

Tendrils of blue scales extended out from the back of a girl, lashing out to hope to catch Saitama within its grasp. At the same time, another boy ran towards him, hands forming into red claws of energy, desperately eager to pry into his skin. A third boy leapt from behind the claw Quirk-user, an entire arm stretching and zooming forwards.

Saitama exhaled, relaxing his muscles and sharpening his mind. Seemingly, everything stood still for a split second.

The tendril girl has got to go first.

Letting out a flurry of quick punches, small but powerful gusts of pressurized air threw the cobalt appendages off, along with the rubber arm that aimed for his face. Shifting his weight, he twisted a roundhouse kick to smash the claw user flying unconscious towards the side, colliding and leaving another crack against the wall.

Another cyclone beam blasted in his direction, Saitama closed in the distance between him and the alpha with superhuman speeds, eyes flaring with heat of the skirmish, before delivering a full left gut punch to his victim, who fell and crashed through his followers.

Seeing the tendril girl recuperating, ready to strike once more, Saitama once again zoomed to close the distance between them within a single exhale of a breath, letting his momentum deliver a right hook towards the face of the girl.

The fist barely brushed past her terrified face, crashing against the wall and crushing a dent into its surface, debris from the porcelein blowing outwards eith the wind currents that ensued. A small cut on her face was left in its wake, a drop of blood pooling from it. Traumatized, the girl could only stand still, shoulders hunched and eyes shut as tightly as possible, tears already dripping down.

"Anyone else?"

Saitama stood deadly still, in his position and stance of his punch. So were the entire audience and band of 'rulers of the school' paralysed, the atmosphere dangerously silent.

"Go home."

Saitama let down his fist, dropping his stance and intent to fight, his eyes no longer gleaming with danger, and walked right through the crowd, picking up his bag along the way, running his hand through his sweaty spiked hair.

He wondered if the girl that they targeted was fine. Still, Quirkless bullying was commonplace in this sad society.

How troublesome these kind of people are. Just because they have some kind of more powerful Quirk they think they are above the rest. What kind of generation does he even live in? Even after the new Symbol of Justice was crowned, why is it that people still look down on each other?

That was his thought train until he heard sobs coming in from behind the staircase, near the exit of the school.

"Hey."

He stood in front of the girl whom he has saved from a beating, his sillhoutte of his shadow covering her cowering form: knees up to her face, arms wrapped around her knees.

The only reply he got was more sobbing and crying.

Saitama moved over to her side, gently plopping himself down to sit beside her.

"You know, when I was a little boy, I wanted to become a hero. A hero that can send rotten villians flying with a single punch.

"But turns out, I'm Quirkless. Most people would think that that's the end of the line for their hero career."

The girl's sniffing and sobbing slowed down, as if she was paying attention of what he was saying.

"But not me. I trained like hell every single day since a year ago. And I became this strong.

"It doesn't matter if you have a weak Quirk or no Quirk at all. Because you have the power to change yourself and become stronger."

The girl finally looked up towards him, her eyes shining in the warm orange light, brimming with hope, as if all her doubts were dispelled. As if, she had met her saviour.

"You can become a hero."

 **an: hi guys sorry that ive discontinued the old before one punch due to stale ideas, and that ive been extremely busy these months. thank you for your continued support and i hope that youll enjoy this new before one punch.**


	2. 2

It was like hell broken loose on the face of Camino Ward once again, but this time in the Musutafu area.

"All heroes to focus on capture and containment of Dragon-rated villian 'Parasite'. Prioritize the capture of villian above non-immediate civillian safety."

Sirens wailed and echoed across the grotesque 'infected' buildings and structures, of which was covered in living, crawling form of tissue, in places sprouting appendages and scales and everything in between, coating the city in a purplish-grey web-roots-tendril kind of surface. Smoke erupted in various places, floating up ominously in the facade of the orange light of the fading sun.

In fact, most of the city was already twisting with this infestation, the villian responsible for this mass destruction, Parasite, still at large. As for the heroes, combating to bring some of the infestation and bay and searching in desperation for the one who caused it.

And Saitama, he was near the battle, trapped with the crowd, where it was deemed too dangerous to evacuate where there were monsters of infestation spawning. In a scene where few heroes, wearing their emboldening gear, were battling what seemed to be one enemy. Parasite.

"DIE!"

An earth shattering blast scorched and scoured the infestated pavement before him was sent towards the purple abomination of a human, which deflected it, albeit not so easily, with an arm that mutated out to become a shield of metallic scales. The recoil sent both combatants back a few steps, with Parasite having the initiative already by sending a trail of crawling, evolving row of metallic spikes that pulsed with life out towards the Explosion hero.

The Number 2 S-Class hero, Napalm, was currently facing off against the grotesque villian, backed up by 2 other A-Class heroes, known as

Uravity and Mimic, who surrounded the area with floating debris and particles to prevent the escape of Parasite from their arena.

It was visible that even though Napalm has aerial superiority and positional advantage, he could not sustain against Parasite for much longer, as the villian continued to mutate and evolve to combat against his opponent. Unleashing explosions after explosions while dodging spines and tendrils that shot out was not a very fun job.

Unleashing another nitroglycerin filled chamber in his left gauntlet, Napalm readied his other arm to stabilise himself in the air. A rumble of a blast was heard, and all became a blazing inferno.

Napalm took this opportunity to attack, the thrust of his palms hurtling him downwards into the fray of smoke and fire. Seeing the villians purple carapace, he knew explosions were not going to be as effective for long. Parasite had the ability to mutate and evolve himself to suit his battle style.

"FUCKING DIE YOU BREAD MOULD!"

A torrent of fire rained down on Parasite at close range as the villian staggered backwards, lashing out with tendrils, of which Napalm barely dodged even with his reflexes, a small cut forming on his arm.

Performing a 180 degree verticle rotation, using the opening caused by his previous attack, Napalm charged up a large scale blast with both arms, and unleashed it as a parting shot to create space and to stall time further for Deku to arrive. This further singed the ground and forced his body back upwards into the air, hence maintaining his positioning.

"JUST WHEN IS THAT BASTARD DEKU GOING TO-"

A metallic rod jammed into his stomach from below, knocking the wind and gastric juices our of him. He really hoped Deku, S-Class number 1 hero, would come right now to beat the shit out of this Parasite guy. Essentially, Napalm got outpowered and outwitted by some cancer tumour, even if he did not want to admit to it.

An barely conscious Napalm dropped out of the air and onto the ground, where Uravity quickly picked him up and to the side, where Mimic quickly touched Napalm discreetly.

"Well, that was an annoying pest."

Menacingly, Parasite, in his now carapaced form, opened up parts of his metallic shell, exposing the infested tissue inside that grew outwards into tendrils, then coiled up together, forming several claws.

"Its feeding time."

Another shattering explosion erupted forth, with Mimic crying out in pain, blasting and covering the area in an orange burst of flame in hopes of creating space and time for them to retreat. And when the flash subsided, both heroes had retreated backwards, behind their "meteor shower arena" walls.

When the smoke cleared, a Parasite was seen holding onto a squirming girl, picked up by her neck, her limbs flailing wide, seeking salvation that was not present. His armoured mask parted to reveal a malicious grin and a dangerous twinkle in his eyes.

Saitama's eyes widened in horror. His mind raced wild as he looked into her emerald eyes that screamed with silent terror.

 _"You know, when I was a little boy, I wanted to become a hero. A hero that can send rotten villians flying with a single punch."_

Time came to a standstill and everything else faded out to black as Saitama looked on.

 _"But turns out, I'm Quirkless. Most people would think that that's the end of the line for their hero career."_

His breathing caught on a hitch as his heart exploded.

 _"But not me. I trained like hell every single day since a year ago. And I became this strong."_

The sounds of the battle faded away as his hearing became numb.

 _"It doesn't matter if you have a weak Quirk or no Quirk at all. Because you have the power to change yourself and become stronger."_

His limbs froze and trepidition as feelings of suffocation took over him.

 _The girl finally looked up towards him, her eyes shining in the warm orange light, brimming with hope, as if all her doubts were dispelled. As if, she had met her saviour._

A painful eternity later, her eyes met his.

 _"You can be a hero."_

 **a/n hi guys its yaboi with another update sorry its a bit late. about your comments:**

 **1\. yes, i do read unordinary, and i was thinking that this universe and unordinary's was the same. however, the whirlwind slicing attack was purely coincidental.**

 **well thats all folks.**

 **i was thinking for this starting to be a parallel of deku saving kacchan, idk whether ive done it well enough but id like to hesr your thoughts.**

 **thanks for your support!**


	3. 3

The weight of the world descended upon Saitama as he looked into her pleading viridian eyes crying out towards him. His heart thumping wildly in his chest, the vicinity of those who were trapped became nothing as the universe faded out to become him and her. The pro heroes limping at the side mattered not, neither did the panicking of the crowd of people around him, and nor did the villian known as Parasite.

 _"You can be a hero."_

The rush of wind in his ears, he burst out of the crowd, stunning all around him in a gasp. The warnings of the pro heroes did not catch up to him, drowned out by his own adrenaline surging through his body.

His legs boosted him forwards, his heart crashing against his ribcage, as he lurched forth, his right hand descending into clawing the ground and amassing a cloud of debris. And in fluid motion, he flung the projectiles in his hand towards the exposed face of the villain, rendering him blind and roaring for a short moment, within that moment of arrogance of removing his mask.

"YOU SON OF A-"

Visibly, the grotesque tendrils holding the girl captive lost some of its grip, with Saitama taking this chance to reach out force away the metallic twisting appendages that held her. Saitama bent away tentacle after branch after claw, his eyes lit up with fire. The same look he had on that fateful day. Almost untangled from the web, the girl squirmed harder, eager to escape the beast and right into the safety of the crowd.

"Why are you here?"

"Because you looked like you were asking for hel-"

Saitama let out a cry as a dense blow to the side left him barrelling towards the ground, his world spinning into darkness as he tumbled and rolled on the disgusting living surface. Still, he righted himself up, lifting his head towards his enemy in spite of the lulling darkness and merging colours, his right side of his ribcage throbbing, his vision forced back into focus. He glared at the villian, his teeth clenched, his arms halfway propping him up.

"Argh. That hurt."

Parasite's living mask-helmet was already reformed around his head, the compound eyes amidst the rough twisting metal scales of the helmet reflecting Saitama's own glare in them. Nonchalantly, he tossed the once captive girl to the side, with her yelping in pain and scrambling away from the monster.

"You're stronger than these second-rate heroes here. And so, you have interested me."

Saitama's heart stopped momentarily as he saw the trap he was in, as he took a flash of a glance behind him, his legs readied for jumping out of the attack range. In the open arena, Parasite was at the center, with Saitama being the last stand against the helpless civilians and their death.

Arms mutating into a spinning cage of death, a shimmering red gleam shot forth and smashed the against Saitama's guard, excited to mutilate their next victim. Saitama, using all his willpower, bolted up and forced his arms to bear the brunt of the strike, guarding against his certain death, his forearms sustaining various cuts and rips as stood his ground against the monster, his body catching up to his breath.

"Very noble aren't you. Putting other's lives before your own."

Parasite slowly ambled forwards, readying another attack, evident from his twisting and clawing arms. Slowly, tauntingly.

Saitama, from his x-guard stance of his arms, swung them outwards, taking on another stance in anticipation of another larger attack. Sweat and blood flowed from his forehead, stinging his vision, and his body drooped with every deep exhale, and his arms trembled in fatigue. It was clear that he would not hold on more for long.

"No one expects much..."

He clenched his fists with iron will, the same fire in his eyes unwavering, as he took on another blow that lifted him into the air, dropping back onto the ground with a slam.

"From a Quirkless guy like me. I know I'm weak. I'm not strong enough to be a hero."

His compound eyes shone with disgust, as tendrils formed behind his back.

"But I can't let you advance to kill all of these people here, while I have the power to do so."

His vision doubling and blurring into disarray, he propped himself up standing through sheer willpower, his body screaming for him to stop.

"It's not about winning or losing! It's about me taking you on right here and right now!"

The crowd was roaring with cheer behind him, supporting him in his stand against the villian, roared in support of their newfound 'hero'. The downed heroes stood on silently too injured to interfere, praying the delay would allow for Deku to arrive and this superhuman kid would be safer than dead.

"Do it kid! You can be a hero!"

"Yeah! Smash that villian in!"

And with a bellowing shout, Saitama burst forwards with every last drop of his strength.

"DETROIT SMASH!"

A green lightning bolt decended from the sky in a flash, rupturing the ground all around the vicinity, smashing in the mask of the enemy, completely shutting down the villian Parasite in one blow, with the aftermath of a crater forming and gales of wind blowing outwards, rings of shock travelling outwards from the ground and erupting into debris.

Updrafts circled the area as buildings swayed around them, collecting people and seperating debris from them, and directing these currents was the S-Class Whirlwind, negating some of the winds caused by Deku. Saitama was of no exception to the sheer force of the wind pressure caused by just one punch, winds carrying him up, then setting him down onto the stable ground gently on his feet.

Various heroes in their gear then came racing into the scene, quickly doing their job in rescue.

The Hero squad had arrived.

Saitama could only look on as the crowd was saved, cheering and celebrating the "New Age All Might" as he stood, one fist raised, face in a wide smile of victory, his green eyes twinkling with strength, towards him, acknowledging him.

As he looked into those viridian eyes, he felt an understanding between them both, before falling into the void of fatigue.

 **a/n yo its been a long week man, and a longer week next week as i catch up for my exams and such. do leave a review for me to improve on my writing and i hope yall will continue supporting me.** **in any case, im looking for a beta reader for this story. do pm me if youre interested!** **until next time!**


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